Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, October 17, 2024
Russian Security Council Deputy Chairperson Dmitry Medvedev claimed on October 17 that Russian forces have recruited roughly 78 percent of their annual recruitment goal thus far in 2024. Medvedev did not specify Russia’s total contract service recruitment goal, however.[51] Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree in September 2024 establishing the intended staffing of the Russian military at 1.5 million combat personnel, a 350,000 increase from a similar decree in 2023.[52] Medvedev stated on July 4 that Russian forces had recruited about 190,000 new contract soldiers in 2024 and that about 1,000 people sign contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) daily, a decrease from Medvedev’s October 2023 claim that 1,600 people sign military service contracts with the MoD daily.[53]
The Russian MoD stated on October 17 that Russian and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warships entered Qingdao Port in the PRC and will remain there until October 20 following joint naval patrol exercises.[54]
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-october-17-2024
Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, October 18, 2024
The US Department of State (DoS) program Rewards for Justice offered a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of foreigners involved in interfering in US elections, including members of prominent Kremlin-awarded milblogger channel Rybar.[42] Rewards for Justice announced the award on October 18 and specified that the Rybar channel manages several social media channels, including at least one propaganda channel on X (formerly Twitter), that are trying to promote internal division and discord in the US and promote the interests of the Russian government.[43] Rewards for Justice identified nine Rybar employees who are of particular interest to the DoS: Rybar founder and director Mikhail Zvinchuk; creative director Valeriya Zvinchuk; video department head Alexander Kan; foreign language resources head Tatyana Kosterova; regional manager Olga Kuznetsova; designer and content team lead Maksim Matveyev; content head of a propaganda channel Alexander Minin; and Vladimir Berkutov and Alexander Minin, who both work on the propaganda channel.[44] Rewards for Justice noted that deceased Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin funded Rybar before his death and that Russian state defense conglomerate Rostec currently funds the channel.[45] The Kremlin has coopted the Rybar channel as part of efforts to strengthen the Kremlin’s control over the Russian information space, and ISW has previously assessed that the Rybar channel is also attempting to expand its influence in the international information space, including by supporting Iranian-backed Iraqi efforts to gain greater control over the Iraqi information space.[46]
Ukrainian Human Rights Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets reported on October 18 that Ukraine has recorded more than 100 confirmed cases of Russian forces executing Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) amid a recent theater-wide increase in Russian executions of Ukrainian POWs.[47] Lubinets stated that the number of Russian executions of Ukrainian POWs is likely much higher. ISW has recently observed an increase in Russian violations of different aspects of the Geneva Convention on POWs, which prohibits the inhumane treatment and execution of POWs or persons who are clearly rendered hors de combat.[48] The European Union (EU) reported on October 16 that at least 177 Ukrainian POWs have died in Russian captivity since February 2022.[49] Head of the Ukrainian Department for Combating Crimes in Conditions of Armed Conflict Yuri Bilousov stated on October 4 that Russian forces have executed 93 Ukrainian POWs on the battlefield since the start of the full-scale invasion and that 80 percent of the recorded cases occurred in 2024, suggesting a clear and systemic increase in the pace of such war crimes.[50]
more + maps https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-october-18-2024